
An American citizen, Philip Gilpin Jr., says he was stopped by masked men in Skanderbeg Square and questioned.
He says he has notified the American Embassy and is in contact with representatives of the American Congress.
REPORTING
I have spoken with the American Embassy and am in contact with my representatives in the American Congress, in Washington.
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Addressed to the Embassy of the United States of America:
My name is Philip Gilpin Jr. and I am an American citizen located in Albania.
This morning, around 11:00, I was returning to my apartment near the city center, after meeting with a real estate agent to look at some potential office space.
As I was walking through the main square, I came across a group of five teenagers chatting. I shook hands with one of them and we started talking. “Hello, how are you?”, a perfectly normal conversation.
About three minutes later, a group of about ten men, without identification marks, all dressed in black and equipped with rubber batons, rushed towards us, physically grabbed us and detained us all.
The teenagers were taken away, while I was held for questioning by two "officers."
One of them grabbed my wrist, took my phone, and started going through its contents. The other one asked for my ID. I told him I was American, from Boston, and showed him my American driver's license.
They took a picture of my license and took a picture of me too.
After about ten minutes of trying to scare me, they let me go.
It is also worth noting that I witnessed three other incidents, where small groups of people acting like gangs of thugs patrolled the square and stopped any young people who came their way.
All of this happened within a period of just 15 minutes, while I was walking.